Archive for kelly ayotte

Well, it's only 2014 and two full years away from the next presidential election. The Democrats seem to have their heir (Hillary Clinton) and their spare (Joe Biden). Things are a bit more cloudy on the Republican side.

They don't have any favorites for the top job yet -- lots of possibles and potentials, but that's about it -- no clear front runner. Their current list of damaged goods includes the likes of: Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Chris Christie, Ted Cruz, Scott Walker, Mike Pence, Jeb Bush and perennial candidate Mitt Romney. (Don't count him out just yet. He has the field staff, organization and donor lists. He's also starting to make more and more public appearances and statements).

But one thing there does seem to be on the GOP side. Despite being unsettled for the top job, POTUS, there's an almost certainty for the number two slot. It's Kelly Ayotte.

Ayotte is also one of the only female GOP top personalities that could counter a Democratic ticket with Hillary Clinton at its top, and at a time when the Republican party has been reeling from a number of scandals that have left the party vulnerable to the accusation that they are not savvy at courting the women’s vote.

“Ayotte could turn the ‘war on women’ narrative into a punch line,” said Schmidt. “In the category of those really talented women who can really break into the next level, I think Kelly Ayotte stands out. She has a lot of skills. There's no on-the-job training and she’s clears [sic] that hurdle.”

Well, it looks like we'll have another Sarah Palin running on the GOP ticket only this time she'll be the Scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz, after she got a brain. Perhaps.

So the Republicans think they have the answer to their women problem. If that was really the case, why aren't they talking about her for the top dog's chair? After all, she's as good or better than any of the male potential candidates. Wouldn't it be something if two women were heading the major tickets? I think so. But that, of course would mean the GOP's leader would be a woman, and I'm not sure the party is ready to accept that yet.

If this is really to be the best possible race, the Dems should go with a totally female ticket - Clinton/Warren. Together they'd be unstoppable.

I've always adored children, teens, and twentysomethings. This video exemplifies exactly why I loved teaching so much, why I admire Erin Faith Page more than I can put into words, and why I do not admire the "honored keynote speaker" Sen. Kelly Ayotte in the least, nor the way she personifies the hypocrisy of that Very Serious Outreach Effort (scroll) by the GOP:

Below is a link to the petition we have made... sign it, share it, and stand with me for equality on every level. Contact me if you would like more information or would like to get involved in any way!

"Bringing someone who is racist, homophobic, transphobic, misogynistic, or openly discriminatory goes against everything that we are taught here at NEC."

"I will not keep quiet on such an important and personal issue."

"There are times when I didn't want to wake up."

"I hated school. Not because I was dumb, but because I had never been surrounded by a community that believed in me."

"May 18th will be the second most important day in my life... I get to look into the crowd knowing that in this moment, I am stronger than I ever thought possible."

"I am confident because I finally believe in myself."

"Because of my experiences at New England College, I was in absolute shock when the news of Senator Kelly Ayotte being our keynote speaker and recipient of an honorary degree was released. I cannot believe that they would choose someone who was the exact opposite of what I believe our school exemplifies."

"Why would we align our name with someone who has no interest in true social justice? Senator Kelly Ayotte is an avid anti-gay marriage, anti-same-sex adoption, and anti-choice senator... She has worked hard to create a state where myself and others are not seen through the same lens, and are not worthy of equal treatment under our laws."

"...I've learned how to tell people like her... that they are wrong."

"This protest is not about Republicans or Democrats. This is about standing up for human rights."

"I want every person on this planet to know that they are worth something. I want the suicides of our LGBT youth to end. I want sexism to be a story of the past, and I want us all to be equal under our law."

Erin Faith Page, a 24-year-old self-identified lesbian, will be the student commencement speaker next week at New England College. She made this video to protest the selection of Sen. Kelly Ayotte to give the keynote address at the graduation ceremony.

[A] national conservative group based in Iowa is running television ads featuring seemingly ordinary New Hampshire moms and law enforcement officials defending the one-term senator from out-of-state “partisan” attacks.

[A] cursory search of individuals in the advertisement reveals that the supposedly typical New Hampshirites are actually long-time Republican party activists and officials.

Now the New Hampshire senator has opened her big, insensitive GOP mouth yet again:

Ayotte, who laughably claims in the video that she supports "full equality for women," said this:

We have existing laws — Title VII, um, Lilly Ledbetter, all those existing protections in place — that, I believe, enforce and provide that people doing equal jobs are, certainly in this country, should receive equal pay.

So, um, that bill, in my view, didn’t add — in fact I think it created a lot of additional burdens that would have been hard, um, to make it more difficult for job creators to create jobs. ...

The reason that I voted against that specific bill is that, I looked at it, and there were already existing laws that need to be enforced and can be enforced and I didn’t feel like adding that layer was going to help us better get at the equal pay issue.

She opposed the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would not exactly “make it more difficult for job creators to create jobs."

It should go without saying that, if similarly situated women are not making the same amount as their male colleagues, then we aren’t doing enough to close this pay gap. So Ayotte’s suggestion that our current laws are sufficient cannot be squared with the reality facing women in the workplace. [...]

So when Ayotte voted against this bill, she stood up for employer’s rights to make completely irrational judgments about how much a female worker should be paid, and their right to retaliate against employees who are trying to figure out if they are being treated fairly.

Please keep proceeding, Kel. We American women can almost feel your outreach efforts from here. Kidding.